In-Depth Look at Stranded and Solid Ethernet Cable

As we know, Ethernet patch cable can be divided into unshielded and shielded Ethernet cable (also referred to as UTP and STP cable) according to whether it is to be shielded. Except that, the Ethernet patch cable can also be divided into into stranded and solid Ethernet cable that have different features and advantages. Since these two kinds of Ethernet patch cables are very commonly used, do you have a good knowledge of them? When designing your wired network, have you ever hesitated over making a decision about which one should be choose to deploy your network? In this paper, it will mainly make an in-depth study of the stranded and solid Ethernet cable and seek the most proper one for you to manage your cabling network.

Stranded and Solid Ethernet Cable Overview

The stranded Ethernet cable is made up of multiple smaller strands of wires which are twisted together to form a single conductor, typically used for patch cords/cables connecting workstations, from wallplate outlet to patch panel and from patch panels to individual workstations. While the solid Ethernet cable is just composed with the single solid strand of copper for each of the 8 conductors that is designed for permanent and semi-permanent installations in longer distance horizontal and backbone cable runs, PoE (power over Ethernet), and HD applications. To better understand the difference between the stranded and solid Ethernet cable, the following figure shows their internal structures.

Stranded and Solid Ethernet Cable Comparison

From the figure above, we can easily learn that the stranded Ethernet cable consists of multiple twisted strands of insulated bare copper conductors, but the solid Ethernet cable features solid insulated bare copper conductors. Why the strands of wires in the stranded Ethernet cable are designed to be twisted together? Compared to the non-twisted solid Ethernet cable, can the stranded Ethernet cable benefit from this special design?

In fact, the twisted feature of the stranded Ethernet cable is designed with the aim of protecting the cable from bending or damage, which provides high flexibility. For a given conductor length of the cable, the more times each strand is twisted around the central conductor, the higher the overall flexibility of the cable and the better the protection will be. Considering that the internal structure in each type of the stranded Ethernet cable are different, if you want to choose a highly flexible stranded Ethernet cable to make your cabling network, you’d better to choose a specified one to meet the detailed requirement of your network.

As for the solid Ethernet cable, what are its features and advantages, and when and where should or shouldn’t it be used for cabling network? In general, the conductor of this kind cable usually features the diameter varying from 22 and 24 AWG wire gauge. For instance, the solid Cat 6 Ethernet cable utilizes 23 AWG copper wires that is larger but more proper for the new and emerging fast Ethernet applications than the solid Cat 5e Ethernet cable with 24AWG wire gauge. As the solid Ethernet cable is easier to be broken if it is over-flexed, bent, or twisted beyond the cable recommended specifications, all the solid Ethernet cables should be seriously made with the minimum bend radius for performance standards and correctly installed to maximize the performance of the cable. Besides, it is not recommendable for daily connecting use due to its fragility, but suitable for permanent and semi-permanent applications.

Conclusion

With the diversity and popularity of the Ethernet patch cable for Ethernet network, there is no doubt that the copper transmission medium will support higher and higher data transmission rate and frequency. Like the two Ethernet patch cable mentioned above, the solid Ethernet cable is less flexible but cheaper than the stranded Ethernet cable, which also performs not so good as the latter one. If you want to make a permanent and semi-permanent cabling, then the solid Ethernet cable is a good choice for you that will save you a lot. But if your cabling network is deployed for daily use, then you are strongly suggest to choose the stranded Ethernet cable.

Shielded Ethernet Cable—a Good Choice for Deploying Network in High EMI Area

At present, the Ethernet patch cable can be simply divided into shielded Ethernet cable and unshielded Ethernet cable, both of which have their features and advantages. Considering that, is there any difficulty for you to decide which one should be selected for deploying your network? Are you familiar with the two kinds of Ethernet patch cables? Is there any advantage of the shielded Ethernet cable, compare to the traditional unshielded one? In fact, using the shielded Ethernet cable allows for a better performance of your network, especially in the application with high EMI, which will be mainly introduced in the following text.

What Is the Shielded Ethernet Cable?

Shielded Ethernet cable is an enhanced version of unshielded Ethernet cable, which features a shield inside usually made up of copper tape, a layer of conducting polymer or a copper or aluminum braid, with the aim of reducing the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). Generally, there are several kinds of shielding like braided shield, screening and foil to be applied for each pair in the cable and all pairs together, which makes various shielded Ethernet cables available on the market and popularly used among users, for instance, STP (shielded twisted pair), SSTP (screened shielded twisted pair) and FTP (foil twisted pair) cables. To better know the internal structure of the shielded Ethernet cable, you can learn it from the following figure.

Why Shielded Ethernet Cable Is Used?

It is well known that EMI, also referred to as FRI (radio frequency interference), can be produced by an external source affecting an electrical circuit by electrostatic coupling, electromagnetic induction, or conduction when the data is transmitted in our network. If the EMI is very high in your network, the data transmission errors may occur. Then how to ensure your network performance?

In general, the external source can be made by natural sources like sun and thunder storms or man-made sources like vehicle ignition systems and cell phones, which would exist in our everyday life and cannot be avoided. Taking this into account, we can only turn to other solution to directly reduce or avoid the EMI for ensure the transmission quality of our network. At first, the Ethernet cable with unshielded feature is designed with twisted pairs inside the cable to reduce the EMI, which performs not very good and doesn’t meet our expectation. Fortunately, experts soon put forward another method to resolve the issue—the shielded Ethernet cable, as one of the most used solution to protect our network from EMI.

What Are the Differences Between Shielded and Unshielded Ethernet Cable?

First and foremost, the shielded Ethernet cable performs better than the unshielded Ethernet cable in reducing the EMI, which greatly ensures the the data transmission quality of the devices most commonly used in buildings, such as microwave equipment, HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) systems and radio transmitters. It also has the ability to decrease the interference generated from devices like power tools and vacuum cleaners. Moreover, using the shielded Ethernet cable can prevent the signals from passing through the outer coating and entering nearby wires by accident for its special shielded structure, hence the crosstalk in the network can be reduced or even avoided.

In contrast to the unshielded Ethernet cable, there are also some disadvantages for the shielded Ethernet cable that should be paid attention to when choosing the Ethernet patch cable. Firstly, choosing the shielded Ethernet cable to deploy your network will cost higher than the unshielded one. Because both the manufacturing cost of itself and its related device for network deployment are more expensive than that of the unshielded one. Secondly, due to its complicate, shielded feature, you should pay more time and money for the installation and maintenance. And it would be difficult to restored if it is damaged because the shielding is quite fragile and rigid. Thirdly, the shielded Ethernet cable is more thicker that makes itself not so flexible as the unshielded one. If you should deploy the network in narrow space, the shielded Ethernet cable has no advantage over the unshielded one.

Conclusion

The shielded Ethernet cable is really a cost effective solution for the applications where the EMI is very high, which can greatly improve your network performance and extend the life span of your equipment. Although it costs much higher than the unshielded one, is more difficult to install and maintain, and is not so flexible, it can perform better to reduce the EMI when put into use. Beside, the unshielded Ethernet cable is still recommended for you if the EMI around your network is not a risk.

Guides for Selecting Ethernet Patch Cable

Ethernet patch cable, the copper-based patch cable, may perform not so good as fiber optic patch cable in deploying Ethernet network, but it is still very commonly used in many applications, such as PCs, routers, and switches, as an accessible, popular and low-cost solution. At present, there are various types of Ethernet patch cables available in the market that may not be very easy to classify if you are not familiar with them. In this paper, it will introduce four widely used types of Ethernet patch cables according to different standards that you can take as reference to select the most suitable one for deploying your network.

STP and UTP Cable

There are two types of Ethernet patch cables according to whether the cable is shielded or not, known as shielded twisted pair (STP) cable and unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. As for the structure of these two types of copper cables, here offers their differences in the following figure for your reference. Besides, it is worth mentioning that shielding is one of the common methods to decrease or avoid EMI, aiming at protecting the whole cabling system.

As for the STP cable, it is always made up of even wires that are shielded by a metallic substance. Just taking an eight-strand cable as an example, all the four pairs of the wires are twisted, shielded and then wrapped in another metallic protector, as shown in the above figure. Through shielding, cancellation and wire twisting, the STP cable can be well protected from interference. It is highly recommended to use the STP cable in industrial settings with high amounts of electromagnetic interference (EMI), such as factories with large electronic equipment. However, there is an important issue that should be paid attention to if you choose the STP cable to deploy Ethernet network. After installation, you should check and ensure that it is installed and grounded properly, or the shielded Ethernet cable will act as an antenna and pick up signals when your network runs.

As for the UTP cable, it is easy to learn that it is designed without shielding. Compared to the STP cable, it is much simpler to install and less expensive due to its unshielded property. But without shielding, how to reduce or avoid interference when using the UTP cable? Or this kind of cable has no ability to decrease the interference? In fact, the UTP cable depends on the twisted pair inside the cable to cancel EMI. Meanwhile, it does not require as much maintenance but can transmit data as fast as the STP cable, since it don’t rely on the outer shielding. As for its application, it is always used in domestic and office Ethernet connections, and in any area where there is not a high degree of EMI.

Solid and Stranded Cable

The solid and stranded cable with different features are designed for various applications. Knowing their features and acquiring when and where they should be used will be helpful for you to improve networking performance and efficiency when designing your network. The following will introduce the structure and advantages of these two kinds of copper cables, then you can have a good knowledge of which should be selected and used for deploying your network.

As shown in the above figure, the solid cable consists of a single, solid conducting wire, insulated with non-conductive materials. With the feature of large-diameter wire, it is physically stronger than the stranded cable and capable of remaining stable over a wider range of frequencies, providing superior electrical characteristics and supporting long transmission with high data rates. Meanwhile, it has a lower DC resistance and a lower susceptibility to high frequency effects than the stranded cable due to its large-diameter wire. All these advantages make the solid cable better suited to the new and emerging high-speed Ethernet applications. However, the large diameter feature of solid cable brings a serious disadvantage at the same time. It could be easy to be break for lack of flexibility as they cannot be flexed or bent for many times without breaking. Hence, the solid cable is an ideal solution for horizontal cabling applications with long transmission distance.

Greatly different from the solid cable, the stranded cable is composed of a bundle of twisted, small gauge wire strands. Its diameter of each individual wire strand is much smaller than that of the solid cable, making it much more flexible and hard to break even if it is repeatedly flexed or bent. Although the stranded cable is not so reliable as solid cables for long distance transmission, it features high flexibility that makes itself easy to constantly plugged, unplugged, bent or installed without harm or risk of performance failure, as an optimal choice for short distance transmission.

Conclusion

From this paper, we can learn four widely used types of Ethernet patch cables with different features that are suitable for different applications. The STP cable is always applied in industrial settings with high amounts of EMI, while the UTP cable is more commonly used in domestic and office Ethernet connections, and in any area where there is not a high degree of EMI. If you want to establish a horizontal, long-distance network with high reliability, the solid cable is strongly recommended. But if long distance is unneeded, you are suggested to use the stranded cable which is a good choice for short distance transmission with high flexibility. In short, choosing the most suitable Ethernet patch cable to deploy your network that can greatly improve your network performance and extend life span of your equipment.